Christmas is meant to be a day of celebration. But this morning it’s a little less joyful with the tragic news that 64 members of the Red Army Choir have died in plane crash in the Black Sea.

As Sky News reports, the choir was traveling on board a Russian military plane that came down shortly after take-off from its base near Sochi. The plane was carrying 92 passengers in total. There are no survivors.

The choir was flying to Syria to perform for troops stationed at a Russian military base. Authorities have ruled out terrorism, stating that mechanical failure is likely responsible.

The renowned choir — known formally as the Aleksandraov Ensemble — is the official army choir of the Russian armed forces, and includes a male choir, an orchestra and a dance ensemble.

At Eurovision 2009 they performed as the interval act during the first semi-final, showcasing the best of Russian folk music against a truly magical LED.

Joined by the Moscow Military Music School and the Gipsy Theatre Roman, their performance was punctuated with applause from start to finish, helping set the standard for one of the best-staged editions of Eurovision ever.

Known for performing a wide oeuvre that includes hymns, operatic arias and pop, they provided backing as t.A.T.u. joined them on stage for a performance of “Not Gonna Get Us”.

Officials have confirmed that the group’s conductor Valery Khalilov is among the dead.

Among those expressing grief is Russia’s Eurovision 2016 singer Sergey Lazarev, who took to social media to share his sadness.

In so many ways the choir members have always served as ambassadors for Russian culture, showcasing a different side of a country that the West has, at times, feared.

Significantly, they performed with the Finnish band Leningrad Cowboys in 1993. They symbolised a resurgent Russia and one that would continue to contribute to the world culturally even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A year later they performed “Sweet Home Alabama” at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Then, as ever, they translated choir music to a broader audience — a legacy that will continue as the choir rebuilds in the years ahead.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the family members impacted by today’s tragedy.

31 Comments

OxanaJanuary 15, 2017 @ 12:45 am

what’s the fuss? 93 soldiers of country who wages 2 wars agains innocent people have been killed in planned diversion. are you crying for every war crimimal who’s getting killed?
have you ever cried for 10 000 of Ukrainians sho has been killed by this army while this choir created propaganda songs to justify killings in Ukraine, to approve annexation of our land and to cheer up agressor so he can kill more? are you nuts people? crying for this garbage? I can’t believe it. This choir sang over the graves of your people starting from 1920x when Soviets started to grab our land and sent army with this damned choir to kill us and to make Ukraine as a part of USSR. since then this damned choir had fun on every bloodshed Russians done. Finally God sent them to hell.

JulieDecember 27, 2016 @ 4:27 pm

A tragedy not only for Russia, but for the whole world. Heartbreaking….Condolences to you, Russia!

SchumpeterDecember 27, 2016 @ 6:20 am

@Magistr the only evidence of Russians in Donbass is that you keep repeating like a mantra “There are Russians in Donbass.There are Russians in Donbass.There are Russians in Donbass.There are Russians in Donbass.There are Russians in Donbass.” You should change your mantra “There are invisible Russians in Donbass that can neither be captured nor be killed”.

SchumpeterDecember 27, 2016 @ 6:17 am

@Magistr I know that there have been a lot of Russians fighting in Donbass, as well as a lot of Germans, Americans, Arabs and Armenians, like dozens of Americans fighting against Donbass. But how many Russian soldiers are there among the 2.500 prisoners of war from Donbass? 500? NO! 100? NO! 10? NO! ANY? NO! So shut up. There are no Russian forces in Donbass. No satellite images, no hacked connections, no died Russian soldiers returned to Russia in coffins. F*cking 21st CENTURY!

SchumpeterDecember 27, 2016 @ 6:11 am

@Magistr I am sure 100% you are not a Ukrainian. Otherwise you are not a human-being. Ukrainians die because of the idiocy of their government. Ukrainians living Donbass are fighting against Ukrainians living in the rest of Ukraine. If you fight against Russia (LOL) why won’t you attack them in Crimea? I know the answer. Because there are Russian forces in Crimea, unlike Donbass.

@Crumbs
Probably those are the same source videos as that fake photo showed by Syrian envoy to the UNSC. He claimed it to demonstrate how welcomed are governmental soldiers by local citizens. But it turned out to be a photo of Iraqi PMU helping a woman in Fallujah, Iraq!

who?what?December 26, 2016 @ 4:34 am

DOTN CARE!?:-P

ESC84December 26, 2016 @ 2:27 am

I don’t know why eurovision.tv ans other fan sote did not mention this event. It’s only within 10 years. Thank you for bringkng up this. Moscow eurovision is the first I watched

DenisDecember 26, 2016 @ 12:16 am

I have issues with Russia and don’t really care about the country, but this was just a sad sad tragedy for all involved.
2016 turned out to be one of the worst years ever,and it just keeps coming. Let’s hope for a bright 2017!

AvstriyaDecember 25, 2016 @ 11:50 pm

A terrible year closes in a terrible way. Christmas took away the Red Army choir and George Michael.

A year full of suffering, but I expected it. And I expect 2017 to be much better and brighter.
.
The poor Russian nation battered by the West, ISIS/Turkey and disaster. I wish the Russians a lot of Love Love Peace Peace for the years to come.

FatimaDecember 25, 2016 @ 11:37 pm

Thank you for marking this tragedy, the first thing I recalled was the Eurovision connection, along with their appearance at the Sochi Olympics. I have some problems with Russia but these poor men (and women) were super and unique.

Mark BeckenbreurDecember 25, 2016 @ 10:41 pm

@Mil brainwashed idiot.

CrumbsDecember 25, 2016 @ 8:23 pm

@Mil Russians have been fighting agains terrorists backed by the West. Aleppo filly got independent from ISIL and Al Nusra three days ago. You can search for celebrations in Aleppo streets in youtube. You will find thousands of videos that your media will never show. Instead they will show how a 7 year old girl from Eastern Aleppo where there had been no electricity for 4 years is tweeting about “Russians bombing the city” I am writing from Armenia where 20000 refugees from Aleppo have taken shelter. Some of them have already returned home.

MilDecember 25, 2016 @ 8:07 pm

Nobody noticed the fact that they were flying to Syria to entertain Russian soldiers at that military base from which they depart to bomb Syria.

NickDecember 25, 2016 @ 7:47 pm

Very sad and tragic. Sending condolences to all their families and friends.

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